Overview
The Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy surveys provide comparable information on patient and provider experience in 10 high-income countries, including Canada. The surveys are conducted yearly, and information is available from 2004 onward.
The surveys target different populations on a 3-year cycle:
- The general population (age 18 and older)
- Older adults
- Primary care physicians
The surveys cover themes such as access to services, continuity of care, patient experience, perceptions of the health system, and health promotion and disease prevention.
The Commonwealth Fund has had different survey partners over the years. Prior to 2014, the Health Council of Canada was the Canadian partner for the surveys. CIHI has been the Canadian partner since 2014, along with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2014 to 2016) and Canada Health Infoway (2015 and 2019) as national co-partners. The Commissaire à la santé et au bien-être du Québec and Ontario Health (formerly Health Quality Ontario) have been ongoing provincial partners.
Find out more about international comparisons, including reports and analyses based on the Commonwealth Fund's surveys.
Data source
The Commonwealth Fund, a private U.S.-based foundation, provides core funding and leads the development of the surveys. SSRS is contracted to conduct the survey and carries out data collection in Canada.
The surveys of the adult population (all adults or older adults) are based on telephone interviews of a representative sample. For the survey of primary care physicians, a representative sample of physicians completes a mail or online survey. When completed, CIHI and all other national partners receive a final data set with the survey results.
Data coverage
The 2023 survey of the general population of adults age 18+ was conducted in 10 countries:
- Australia
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- The Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
In Canada, 4,820 respondents participated in the 2023 survey.
Data availability
- Most recent data: 2023 (survey of general population of adults age 18+) — Read the report and companion products
- Next release: March 2025 (survey of older adults age 65+)
- Historical series: 2004 to 2022
Data elements
Topics covered in the surveys of older adults and of the general population include
- Overall views of the health care system
- Use of information technologies
- Patient access to primary and preventive care
- Patient relationship with regular doctor/GP
- Patient use of and experience with specialists
- Patient experience with care in the hospital and emergency department
- Health care coverage/affordability of care
- Overall patient health and medical conditions
- Patient mental health and access to mental health care services
- End-of-life care
- Health promotion and healthy lifestyles
- In Canada in 2017: patient experience with home care (including palliative care) received from a government home care program and the use of digital technologies to monitor health at home
Subjects covered in the survey of primary care physicians include
- Profile of primary care physicians and their practices
- Access to care
- Coordination within the health system
- Coordination with social services
- Coordination using information technologies
- Perception of health system performance
- Virtual care
- Provider experiences with their practice
More detailed information on survey questions and results can be found in the summary-level data tables (XLSX).
Classification
No official classification standards are used.
Data quality
These methodology notes (PDF) provide an overview of the sampling methodology, response rate, coverage, weighting of results and significance testing.
For further information on the quality of the Commonwealth Fund’s International Health Policy Survey, contact us at cmwf@cihi.ca.